compact
Silver Member
An apples to apples comparison on 5 and 6 foot light duty brush hogs on a 30PTO tractor. I have some pictures if I get around to loading them. My hope is that anyone with equipment / requirements similar to mune will find this helpful.
I have a deere 3520 open station e-hydro, quick hitch, hydraulic top link, unloaded r4's, loader off during mowing.
I mowed 45 acres with a new RC2060, it worked well. Smooth terrain and light grass it goes 5.5mph at 4 inch mow height. 2 foot grass it bogs down to about 3.5mph at WOT. I flipped the front tires wide and offset the imatch about 3.5 inches left using some long threaded draft pins from tractor supply. I swung the hitch as far left as it would go. The combination offset the cutter enough to allow me to drive the right side tires in mowed grass while using 57 inches of the cutter width. I mow counter clockwise, guide 3" inside the front tire. The cut was very good, no rooster tails at all, zero, even in wet grass.
Not being satisfied and possibly having more dollars then sense, I traded it for a new RC2072 and 5 42 lb front suitcase weights.
First off, the 2072 combination turns at least as well as the 2060 with no weights - actually making a sharp 90 on wet grass it turns noticeably better - same grass, same ground, same grass height, same speed, technique, etc. The hydraulic top link helps in lifting / height setting and general control but honestly - if anyone is worried about a 5 vs 6 foot light duty cutter on this tractor I would advise them to get the wider cutter and forget about it, it handles it like a wet dish rag. Over some very rough ground (plowed and never harrowed 3 acres 45 years ago) there were no problems - 1.8mph most of the time cutting thick 2 foot tall woody brush at 2200 rpm, does not noticeably load the engine, which is what the 5 foot did also. I did not try the 2072 without the front weights. Hydrostatic seems ideal for brush hogging, along with a hydraulic top link it may make a difference on the upper end of a tractors ability and this may play a part in my experience.
power wise - I can go through tall grass faster than I'm comfortable with either cutter. I have some sneaky rocks here and there and 3.5MPH in 2 foot grass is all I want to do. The 5 foot cutter COULD go faster than the 6 but they both will go my speed limit. In thin grass / 2 foot woody weeds the 6 foot mows noticeably more acres / hour - 6 acres in 2 hours 15 min doorstep to doorstep counting edging, obstacles, and 1/2 mile roading each way. About 5.5mph with a reasonably good cut.
Cut quality - well, I must say that with the same 57 inch cut width and speed the offset 5 foot cutter cuts at least as well as the 6 with the offset removed. Running the grass down with a tire in the same direction as the cutter turns does seem to leave a rooster tail on the 6 foot. So - for a quality cut in grass, there was no width gain going to a 6 foot. I'm not as concerned with grass, more concerned on the woody weeds (meadowsweet, alder, goldenrod, small firs) and the 6 foot cuts those just fine at a 69 inch average cut width, so for my use there was a significant gain.
My reason for the cutter switch is I can mow the entire 45 acres in a long weekend with the 6 foot cutter and 20 hours cutting time is about all I can stand- it's a 6 hour driving time tow each way plus stops. 7 hour tow, 6 hour cut day 1, 12 hour cut day 2, 3 hour cut, 1 hour trailer load, 7 hour return trip, 1 hour unload day 3 and I'm done in more ways than one.
I have a deere 3520 open station e-hydro, quick hitch, hydraulic top link, unloaded r4's, loader off during mowing.
I mowed 45 acres with a new RC2060, it worked well. Smooth terrain and light grass it goes 5.5mph at 4 inch mow height. 2 foot grass it bogs down to about 3.5mph at WOT. I flipped the front tires wide and offset the imatch about 3.5 inches left using some long threaded draft pins from tractor supply. I swung the hitch as far left as it would go. The combination offset the cutter enough to allow me to drive the right side tires in mowed grass while using 57 inches of the cutter width. I mow counter clockwise, guide 3" inside the front tire. The cut was very good, no rooster tails at all, zero, even in wet grass.
Not being satisfied and possibly having more dollars then sense, I traded it for a new RC2072 and 5 42 lb front suitcase weights.
First off, the 2072 combination turns at least as well as the 2060 with no weights - actually making a sharp 90 on wet grass it turns noticeably better - same grass, same ground, same grass height, same speed, technique, etc. The hydraulic top link helps in lifting / height setting and general control but honestly - if anyone is worried about a 5 vs 6 foot light duty cutter on this tractor I would advise them to get the wider cutter and forget about it, it handles it like a wet dish rag. Over some very rough ground (plowed and never harrowed 3 acres 45 years ago) there were no problems - 1.8mph most of the time cutting thick 2 foot tall woody brush at 2200 rpm, does not noticeably load the engine, which is what the 5 foot did also. I did not try the 2072 without the front weights. Hydrostatic seems ideal for brush hogging, along with a hydraulic top link it may make a difference on the upper end of a tractors ability and this may play a part in my experience.
power wise - I can go through tall grass faster than I'm comfortable with either cutter. I have some sneaky rocks here and there and 3.5MPH in 2 foot grass is all I want to do. The 5 foot cutter COULD go faster than the 6 but they both will go my speed limit. In thin grass / 2 foot woody weeds the 6 foot mows noticeably more acres / hour - 6 acres in 2 hours 15 min doorstep to doorstep counting edging, obstacles, and 1/2 mile roading each way. About 5.5mph with a reasonably good cut.
Cut quality - well, I must say that with the same 57 inch cut width and speed the offset 5 foot cutter cuts at least as well as the 6 with the offset removed. Running the grass down with a tire in the same direction as the cutter turns does seem to leave a rooster tail on the 6 foot. So - for a quality cut in grass, there was no width gain going to a 6 foot. I'm not as concerned with grass, more concerned on the woody weeds (meadowsweet, alder, goldenrod, small firs) and the 6 foot cuts those just fine at a 69 inch average cut width, so for my use there was a significant gain.
My reason for the cutter switch is I can mow the entire 45 acres in a long weekend with the 6 foot cutter and 20 hours cutting time is about all I can stand- it's a 6 hour driving time tow each way plus stops. 7 hour tow, 6 hour cut day 1, 12 hour cut day 2, 3 hour cut, 1 hour trailer load, 7 hour return trip, 1 hour unload day 3 and I'm done in more ways than one.
